Description

Beatles - Four Vintage Astrid Kirchherr Signed Color Photographs
of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr
(Tenerife,1963). small format, all showing Kirchherr sitting
beside a swimming pool at the beach with one or more of the three
Beatles, comprising one with George and Ringo; one with Paul and
two with George, all signed on the verso by Kirchherr in pencil,
two additionally inscribed "20.8.68" , three with descriptions in
blue ink, two with "Sammlung Ulf Kruger" stamps. All images 3.5" x
3.5". In Very Good condition, some creasing, particularly Paul's,
with crease to lower left corner, general yellowing and some foxing
to versos.Provenance: The Ulf Kruger Archive, Hamburg.

For the Beatles, 1963 began with a relentless schedule of live
performances, recording sessions, television and radio engagements
and numerous other press commitments. The hard work paid off. On
22nd February, they achieved their first British number one single
with "Please Please Me". This was followed in March by the release
of their first studio album of the same name. As momentum began to
build and Beatlemania started to take hold the Fab Four took a well
earned break from their concert tour with Helen Shapiro. On 28th
April, Paul, George and Ringo took a 12 day vacation to Santa Cruz
in Tenerife. They were joined by Astrid Kirchherr and Klaus
Voorman, staying at the Voorman family home. The pair were friends
from Hamburg in 1960, where Astrid had taken photographs of the
original members of the group, including Stuart Sutcliffe, who
became her boyfriend before tragically dying. It seems from these
photographs that the group were able to relax largely unnoticed by
those around them. This would surely be one of their last
opportunities to enjoy anonymity, with superstardom just around the
corner.